West Brom: Chis Lepkowski amazed by takeover latest at The Hawthorns as Shilen Patel news emerges
Journalist Chris Lepkowski has questioned the delay to the takeover at West Brom and would be “very surprised” if it is concluded this month.
BBC Sport reported on 12 January that Florida-based businessman Shilen Patel is now a “significant candidate” to take over at The Hawthorns.
A group from Nigeria were also believed to be in the running to buy out Guochuan Lai, with the situation having dragged on for many months.
Speaking on The Liquidator Podcast [14 January, 8m 37s], former Birmingham Mail reporter Lepkowski said: “Some information came to light last week when I heard that there is some unease at the length of time this is taking.
“It’s taking longer than it should be due to the Chinese branch of the club delaying matters. Why they would do that, if that is the case, is beyond me.
“They know the consequences that await. The story about Mohamed El Kashashy and Chris Farnell is possibly from someone involved in that group.
“I think we’re still in this process for a few more weeks yet. I’d be very surprised if anything gets signed off in the next couple of weeks.
“This could drag on, which is perfectly natural. If shouldn’t cause alarm that it hasn’t happened yet.”
Cannot go on forever
The time this takeover is taking to go through is a concern, particularly when we were told over a month ago that a deal looked close.
Takeovers of this nature take time, of course, but there is no guarantee that Patel will be able to get a deal over the line.
The worry is that, should this one fall through, it will mean potentially more weeks and months of uncertainty as when another buyer enters talks.
West Brom are losing money and cannot afford for this situation to go on forever.
The initial hope was that a new owner – or owners – would be in place by the January transfer window, but that was not the case.
Getting someone in place before the window closes is now the next aim but, again, that is looking unlikely.
As positive as the recent news coming out of The Hawthorns has been, supporters will not be able to relax until an official announcement is made.
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan has identified his ideal January transfer target.